Walking Verdun

Posted on Thursday 4th February 2016

walking the battlefield of Verdun

The
Verdun battlefield of 1916 is unlike any other. Blasted by shells for
ten months until forests, fields, farms and houses were completely
wiped off the map, it was regarded by the French government as
impossible to restore to pre-war use and handed over to the forestry
department. No one was allowed to live there again and the nine
villages destroyed in the battle were not rebuilt. As the years went
by, trees covered the devastated landscape but under the trees the
battle lives on, unvisited and unknown.

If you’ve ever wanted
to walk the battlefield you can do so with Walking Verdun, a
guide for visitors who want to get away from the crowds and see at
first hand what remains of the longest battle of the First World War.
And what remains! Trenches, camps, bunkers, machine gun posts,
batteries and shelters Forts and fieldworks all bear witness to the
months of struggle. With Walking Verdun you can head out from
the destroyed village of Bezonvaux, now emerging like some Sleeping
Beauty from a century of abandonment, through ravines used by
thousands of German soldiers as they moved up to Fort Douaumont.
Along forest tracks you’ll pass through a landscape of shell holes
and trenches until you emerge from the forest at the edge of the
ditch surrounding the fort and get a sense of the size and power of
the greatest permanent work in the Verdun system before the First
World War. Or you can discover the Bois des Caures, a scene of the
heroic defence by Lieutenant-Colonel Driant’s Chasseurs - two under
strength battalions – as they found the courage to face two German
divisions after hours of unimaginable bombardment. Then, for a
change, explore Fumin Wood, swamped by shells between March and June
1916 as the Germans inched towards Fort Vaux, or walk the Mort-Homme,
the Dead Man, the sinisterly named hill on the Left Bank where the
most striking monument of all, Death triumphant with French flag and
laurel branch, marks the place where the German advance was stopped.

These
are just some of the possibilities. Eight of the ten routes in
Walking Verdun are battlefield walks. Seven follow the German
army’s advance from the start of the battle in February 1916 to its
high water mark five months later; one follows the French counter
offensive of October 1916 which retook Fort Douaumont and pressured
the Germans into abandoning Fort Vaux. They follow marked paths but
you will still need a map, and the best one to buy is IGN No 3112 ET;
Forêts de Verdun et du Mort-Homme; Champ de Bataille de Verdun,
which isproduced by the French Institut Géographique
Nationale. It ought to be on sale in Verdun but sometimes it isn’t,
so avoid disappointment by getting it before you go.
Each
walk is divided into two parts; an account of the events and a
detailed description of the route together with a simple map. None is
more than eight kilometres long but they all involve hills and they
all need stout, waterproof footwear – oh, and don’t wear shorts
or the mosquitoes will get you. For the last two walks – gentle
strolls around the central battlefield monuments on the Right Bank of
the River Meuse and through the picturesque heart of the old city of
Verdun – you won’t need heavy shoes but you might still need a
rain jacket. And at the end of the city walk, what could be nicer
than a cool glass of wine by the riverside?
Finally,
this was a battlefield, so stay on the paths and keep away from the
edges of holes. Most of the forts and fieldworks at Verdunare
out of bounds and anyone found there will be prosecuted. Do not dig,
collect ‘souvenirs’, or use metal detectors unless you want to
end up in court. Stay out of forts, shelters and dugouts however
tempting they may look and do not, under any circumstances, touch
live ordnance.
Happy
walking!
The smashed cupola of the 75mm gun turret on Fort Vaux, blown out by the German s in the early hours of 2 November 1916 before they withdrew from the fort
The passage of a century cannot hide the evidence of heavy shelling at the Ouvrage de Thiaumont during the summer of 1916 A Call to Arms by Rodin, presented to Verdun after the war by the people of Holland
All images are those of the author, Christina Holstein
VERDUN
A concrete machine gun post forming part of Colonel Driant's defences in the Bois des Caures
The façade of Fort Douaumont today, showing the massive layer of concrete poured on top of the original stone construction to protect it from shelling
Fierce and proud on top of Mort-Homme, Death marks the place where the German advance on the Left Bank came to a stop
The old peacetime entrance of Fort Souville, now ruined
The devastated top of Fort Douaumont in 1919
The Ossuary, the mighty memorial to the men who fought the Battle of Verdun and the resting place of unidentifiable remains still found on the battlefield

Further Reading

Walking Verdun(Paperback - 176 pages)
ISBN: 9781844158676

by Christina Holstein Only £12.99

On 21 February 1916 the German Fifth Army launched a devastating offensive against French forces at Verdun and set in motion one of the most harrowing and prolonged battles of the Great War. By the time the struggle finished ten months later, over 650,000 men had been killed or wounded or were missing, and the terrible memory of the battle had been etched into the histories of France and Germany. This epic trial of military and national strength cannot be properly understood without visiting, and walking, the battlefield, and this…Read more at Pen & Sword Books...